The Janata Dal-United on Friday took a jibe at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks that it is the duty of every child to repay the debt he owes to 'Mother India' and said when a politician comments like this, it reflects his "desire" for the Delhi crown.
The Union home minister recalled that the BJP had won far greater number of seats in the last assembly polls than the JD(U) but Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept up his promise to back Kumar for another term in office.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi appears to be on the way out in the wake of his defiance as the Janata Dal-United is all set to replace him with his mentor Nitish Kumar at a meeting of the legislature party on Saturday.
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday signed on the nomination paper as a proposer for the candidature of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma in the coming Presidential election.
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an 'election jumla' the women's reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesn't account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP's Bihar unit responded to the tweet saying, "The first picture is your future and the second is of India. Understood?"
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Leaders like Vajpayee, Advani treated me with respect," the JD-U leader said.
Even until Monday, some senior BJP leaders, including those from Bihar, were of the view that the JD-U leader was engaging in brinkmanship to pressure his bigger partner to be more accommodative.
'In his election speeches, Nitish has been parroting Modi, praising him like never before.'
Will Amit Shah's meetings with Nitish Kumar improve BJP-JD-U relations?
Reacting to the grand old Congress party's decline to the 'pran-pratishtha' ceremony invitations of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, Digvijaya said that the ruling party had turned the event into a BJP and VHP event.
The Janata Dal-United leader maintained that having taken the initiative to bring parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party, he desired nothing for himself but admitted having stressed at the meeting the need to expedite seat-sharing arrangements.
Sources within the INDIA bloc said appointing Nitish Kumar as convenor would lend credibility to the INDIA bloc's demand for conducting a nationwide caste census.
Patna residents discuss what may happen when the EVMs are unlocked on Sunday morningwith Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com
Among the major political parties, chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United is contesting in 35 of the 71 seats, followed by its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (29), while the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal has fielded its candidates in 42 and its coalition partner Congress is in the fray in 20 assembly segments.
Kumar will be administered the oath of office by Governor Phagu Chauhan at a simple ceremony inside the Raj Bhavan at 2 pm.
'Everyone's voice must be heard. We will be talking to both Kukis and Meiteis'
The days of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar were numbered, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said, claiming that more than 50 Janata Dal-United MLAs were in touch with the party and worked for its candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, triggering an angry reaction from the ruling party.
There is a strong possibility of opposition parties coming together to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday, stressing that he has had good talks with them and many will join hands gradually.
Many eyebrows were raised in Bihar on Monday as news broke of a meeting between Communist Party of India's rising star Kanhaiya Kumar and Ashok Choudhary, a minister and key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
As he snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar's caretaker chief minister Nitish Kumar has once again been pitched as a prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 elections by some, but a majority of the Opposition still view the Janata Dal-United leader with suspicion citing his numerous 'U-turns'.
'Giriraj Singh has told the central leadership that he is being made a target by some BJP leaders and some JD-U in a conspiracy to defeat him in the polls.'
As per the two party leaders, they held wide-ranging talks on the current political situation in Bihar and the NDA's strategy for contesting the 40 seats in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
A Patna court has directed the police to lodge an FIR against RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, his MP sister Misa Bharti and some other political figures on the complaint of a person who has alleged he was duped of Rs 5 crore with the promise of a Lok Sabha ticket in the 2019 general elections.
It's official now. After a gap of 23 years, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and senior Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar will share dais and jointly address public meetings on Monday for by polls in Bihar's Hajipur and Mohiuddinnagar assembly constituencies.
Several prominent opposition leaders including Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah will share the dais at a rally being organised by Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana's Fatehabad on Sunday.
RLSP leaders feel insulted after getting no response from the BJP on their demand for a 'respectful seat sharing formula' for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad's 'samdhi' Chandrika Roy has been nominated by the Janata Dal- United from his traditional Parsa assembly seat, but name of the former Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey is missing from the list of 115 candidates released by the party on Wednesday.
The performance of Janata Dal-United has down compared its performance in the 2015 elections and the ruling party could not win even half of the number of seats it contested in this election.
"As part of NDA, we look forward to joining forces with you in Maharashtra to help secure victory in upcoming Lok Sabha elections & beyond. @nitishkumar," Kishor tweeted while tagging JD-U president Nitish Kumar.
There is also speculation within the BJP that its national president J P Nadda, whose extended tenure will end by this month and who was among the leaders meeting Modi, may also be brought back in the government.
"You can see all of us working together. There is no discontent. The problem is, today newspapers have more pages than before, news channels run 24X7 and then there is social media where anybody can say anything without worrying about backing a claim with facts," he said.
Kumar banged his table at Patna's Indian Coffee House as he announced this to an audience that was discussing alleged corruption in Bihar in 1977, writes Sankarshan Thakur in his biography of Kumar -- The Brothers Bihari.
Pointing out that the party had contested seven seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the state LJP chief said there was no reason why it would settle for less than that for the 2019 elections, or for six Lok Sabha seats and one in Rajya Sabha.
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
'Dynastic politics has become a tool of convenience for political parties. The BJP does not hesitate to accept it when it comes to its own alliance or party candidates. The same goes for the others.'
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
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